General News of Wednesday, 24 July 2024
Source: peacefmonline.com
NPP presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, received massive love and reception from beneficiaries of Free SHS at Wechiau in the Wa Central Constituency on Monday.
The Vice President is currently in the Upper West Region as part of his campaign tour, and during a community engagement in Wechiau, Free SHS beneficiaries showed up in huge numbers to support him.
The beneficiaries, comprising graduates and continuing students, excitedly cheered Dr. Bawumia on as he exchanged pleasantries with them.
The Free SHS policy, introduced by the Akufo-Addo government in 2017, is widely regarded as the biggest social intervention programme since Ghana's independence.
Following the introduction of the policy, access to secondary education has doubled, with increased enrollment from 800,000 to over 1.4 million across the country.
Also, prior to the policy, statistics showed that more girls ended their education at the JHS level while more boys enrolled in Senior High Schools due to poverty or their parents' inability to pay tuition fees. But the Free SHS has eradicated this problem.
Traditional rulers, parents, and students who have benefitted from the policy have been openly expressing their profound gratitude to the government for the opportunities provided to Ghanaians who otherwise would have been out of school due to financial constraints or other challenges.